Chapter 3

Damian’s low, icy voice sounded behind me. With one arm wrapped possessively around Chloe, he shoved past me and left first.

At the dinner table, he doted on her relentlessly, serving her food, wiping the corner of her lips, and treating her with tenderness. Even Father, who had been upset by Damian’s earlier behavior, gradually softened when he saw the two of them acting so “in love.”

In my last life, Damian had treated me gently enough, but he had never done this. In his eyes, my status was beneath his, so I was the one who should serve him. Now, he was flaunting all this care for Chloe just to spite me.

Whatever. There were plenty of Golden Lycans in the world besides him. If I really wanted a pup of a Golden Lycan bloodline, all I had to do was find a donor.

In fact, finding a donor wasn’t a bad idea. There’d be no marriage and no strings attached. I could give birth to a Golden Lycan pup, infuriate Damian, and maybe even make up for the regret of never becoming a mother in my last life.

However, right now, every Golden Lycan in sight was either too old or far too young. Where was I supposed to find a young one in his prime?

“You’re looking for a young Golden Lycan?”

I nearly jumped and slapped my hand over Lilith’s mouth, saying, “Not so loud!”

Lilith, a tree spirit born from a thousand-year-old oak, was my non-werewolf friend.

“Mm– Let go, let go!” she protested.

I removed my hand, and she lowered her voice dramatically.

“Actually, I do know an absolutely extraordinary Golden Lycan.”

“You do?”

“Legend says that in Moonshine Heart on Silent Peak, there lives a Primordial Golden Lycan, the purest bloodline your Werewolf Alliance has seen in a hundred years. Even your council elders would bow to him.”

“That’s how strong he is?”

I wasn’t sure whether to believe her. After all, Lilith loved exaggerating.

“Of course! They say any werewolf who’s ever seen him was blinded by his golden aura. But ever since he went up Silent Peak, he’s never come down, and no one can go up either. The mountain basically became forbidden.”

I frowned, deep in thought. It was true. Since childhood, the council elders had always warned us to stay far from that mountain.

“How do you know more than me, and I’m the werewolf here?”

“I’ve lived nearly a thousand years. How could I not know?” She rolled her leafy eyes at me.

“So… let’s say, hypothetically… hypothetically I want him to be my donor. Is that possible?”

“Huh? What!”

There came another scream, and I had to slap a hand over her mouth again.

“Quiet! Don’t let anyone hear you!”

“You can’t be serious,” she said as soon as I released her. “First of all, no one can even get up that mountain. Second, no one knows what the situation is up there after a hundred years. And you want a Primordial Golden Lycan to be your donor? Do you have a death wish?”

“How would I know unless I try? And what if I get lucky? I could use a little moonpetal pollen, sleep with him for one night, and by sunrise, he’ll forget everything.”

Lilith stared at me, her jaw on the floor. However, I wasn’t joking. I knew exactly how to enter the mountain.

In my last life, Damian had spent years searching for forbidden rituals to hide his Omega identity. He had collected countless ancient texts, and one of them described how the golden-glow herb on Silent Peak could be crushed into juice and applied to fur to make one’s entire body shimmer gold permanently.

To search for that herb, Damian had searched through hundreds of ancient scrolls to find a way into the mountain. There was a rune stone at the mountain’s southwest base, unbreakable and ancient. It was only by using the blood of a high-ranking Alpha and a specific sigil that one could unlock the barrier.

I could still remember the sigil clearly. Back then, Damian had drained half a bowl of my blood to draw it, but he returned empty-handed and with severe injuries. When I asked what happened, he never answered.

“You’re insane,” Lilith whispered, waving two leaf-hands dramatically. “That’s a Primordial Lycan! If he finds out a lowly werewolf like you dares set your sights on him, he’ll tear you apart.”

“Lowly? I’m a high-ranking Silvermoon Alpha, thank you very much.”

“Are you actually serious?”

“I am.”

Lilith resigned. “Fine. I’ve heard all about what happened to you in the Alliance. And since you’ve watered me with so much spirit spring water, I can help you… but only a little.”

She reached into the center of her oak trunk and plucked her most tender leaf, handing it to me.

“I’m actually a ‘fertility tree’. Eat this, and you’ll definitely get pregnant.”

“So that’s your real function. And all this time you lied, telling me your leaves would double my strength and grant eternal youth.” I couldn’t help laughing as I took the leaf.

“Don’t make fun of me!”

“Okay, okay.” I stifled another laugh.

“You'd better come back safe,” she said seriously. “I’ll be waiting for you to water me.”

“I know, I know.”

Waving over my shoulder, I began walking toward Silent Peak.